STEELERS VS. BROWNS 
Post-Game Quotes
Sunday, December 7, 2006
at Heinz Field

Browns Quotes

 

HEAD COACH ROMEO CRENNEL

We got beat thoroughly today; all the way around. We couldn't run it and they ran it consistently. We couldn't catch it and they caught everything they had to. So when you can't stop them and you can't move it, you get beat and that's what happened. It's disappoint and I can't explain it. Don't know why it happened, but it did. Joe Andruzzi was the guy with the knee that got banged up a little bit. We will have to evaluate him and see what it looks like. We got beat, that what it was.

 

What is the status on Joe Andruzzi injury?

Knee, re-evaluated.

 

Drop pass?

I don't know we have been catching them before. All of a sudden we have been dropping today. What can I say? Everybody has a hand in dropping them.

 

The inability to run, was that the Steelers Defense or was that you guys?

Well it's both. I mean it's the Steelers defense and us. In general that is what you have to say. The Steelers have always been good against the run and we struggled on and off all year.

 

How about your run defense?

Well it wasn't very good tonight. We couldn't stop them. They ran inside, they ran outside, we couldn't tackle them and what did they gain 270 yards? That's not run defense.

 

How do you think (Derek) Anderson did?

In the first half I thought he had some plays he could have made, but they dropped the ball and that's when we had the opportunity to make it a football game, but we couldn't do that and so the results saying that he didn't very well. Because in the second half he tried to force some things down the field. They turned the ball over. It wasn't a good outing overall.

 

How would you evaluate Derek Anderson?

At least you can say he put it where it was supposed to be. After a loss like that, it is tough to evaluate anybody really and you have the chance to let a little bit go and try to be more objective the next day.

 

It is tough to figure out why the team seems to be on a rollercoaster ride?

Definitely it is. Like I told those guys we take a step forward and handle prosperity and then we end up taking a step back. So that is where we have been. We win a game and then we lose. Then we have to fight to try to get back to win another one, then we lose. I don't have any answers for you.

 

Was the attitude on the team when missing the field goal right before the half and then the Steelers came out and were able to come out and have a long drive at the beginning of the second half?

I don't think we took it very good because we were getting beat and I don't think anybody had a good attitude.

 

Did you see anything from Derek that would help make the other guys rally?

Which guys you want to rally?

 

 

I am talking about playing consistently, not dropping passes?

I think he threw the ball pretty well against the wind, he did a pretty good job. It looked like overall he was protected pretty decently. They just weren't screening in on him and knocking him down and beating him up, so I think that was a positive there. But, it is hard to find positives when you get beat like this.

 

34 – Ruben Droughns (RB)

 

Can you explain how one week you guys play well on offense and the other week…

 

It's been the story of the season, man.  Somehow we've got to get something established, win those back-to-back.  Today we just didn't. 

 

Do you attribute games like this to short weeks? 

 

No.  I don't blame it on a short week at all.  I just blame it on we flat-out got outplayed. 

 

What did they do to you defensively?

 

Nothing that we haven't seen before.

 

How do you think Derek played?

 

Derek played good, he did a good job. 

 

You guys said before the last Steeler game that you guys were still thinking about the 41-0 loss.  When you have three games like this, back-to-back-to-back, how bad a taste does this leave in for the next time you meet up?

 

It's a terrible taste because we lost to them both times last year.  We lost both times to them this year.  That's a terrible taste in your mouth.  You don't want to lose to your rival four times in a row.

 

 

3 – Derek Anderson (QB)

 

Can you talk a bit about how you think you performed out there today?

 

I thought in a short week I prepared well.  I felt good going in.  I don't know, I felt confident.  I thought maybe they were going to pressure a bit more and they didn't.  Once they got ahead they didn't really need to bring any pressure.  But I felt pretty good out there.

 

Those looks they potentially show you with the blitz packages, did you find that preparing for this football team did you have a sense that it would be difficult or require a little bit more detail from everybody?

 

Yep.  Going in, I stick with them and I want to know exactly what's going on and what we're going to see, so it took a little extra time.  With night games, I had some time today to watch a little bit of tape and just kind of get a better feel and try to take advantage of the time I had when we were just sitting around in meetings.  But I had a pretty good feel going in.

 

 

Is it frustrating?  This is your first NFL start.  You probably had – you cut into what you count as a dropped pass you went between seven and nine drops.  Is it frustrating to have momentum sucked away like that?

 

It hurts.  Especially putting the effort in every week.  We've got to go out as a team, offense, defense, everybody and make plays when they come up.  It's tough, but we've just got to reload everything for the next chance we get.

 

Derek, how do you feel you played overall?

 

I made a couple of mistakes.  Obviously, the fumble was a little bit upsetting and if I can set my feet and throw that post to Braylon [Edwards], it's probably a touchdown.  A little disappointing on that.  I was kind of rushed and kind of ran up in the pocket as opposed to shuffle up.  But I try to make good decisions.  I thought I made good decisions other than those two plays. 

 

Did you decide late on that throw to Braylon?

 

No.  I saw the safety coming down cheating.  He was coming towards Joe's side and I tried to step up.  If I can get the ball out and put it on a line it's going to be six.

 

Did you throw that off your back foot?

 

I was running up in the pocket.  I should have been shuffling up and staying on balance.  I just let it go.  I just made a mistake.

 

What was the communication like with Charlie on the sideline?

 

We all just kind of went through things.  I was seeing it pretty good.  They didn't do anything too crazy.  With Troy [Polamalu] out it was pretty basic.  They just kind of helped me.  I tried to stay calm and not panic when things went wrong.

 

Do you think the receivers have to get used to your velocity?

 

I don't know.  We just have to focus and make plays. I don't want to blame anything on anybody.  We've just got to make plays.  This loss hurts.

 

Was there any doubt you were starting?

 

He did try to go I think Wednesday at practice and that's when I knew for sure I was going.

 

Was it hard to get into a rhythm with the dropped passes?

 

I don't know.  I don't think the dropped passes were everything.  In all three phases, we've got to make plays.  We've got to be better. 

 

Did the cold weather, the wind have any effect on the passes today?

 

No.  When it's cold, you've got to get used to it.  That's all it is.  You've got to make plays.

 

 

84 – Joe Jurevicius (WR)

 

Talk about what happened today.

 

We got our ass kicked.  There's no other way to put it.  We keep talking about taking steps, but we took a step backwards tonight.  It's frustrating.  To only be able to win one game at a time.  If we're going to take the next step we've got to work on getting back-to-back wins.

 

Third down conversions has really been one of this team's Achilles' heels.

 

When opportunities come, we need to try and make the most of it.  We had a few drops today.  Some of that has to do with cold weather, on the other hand we shouldn't make that an excuse.  The Pittsburgh Steelers handed it to us.

 

How do you assess Derek.  First NFL start.

 

I think he played pretty well.  I haven't looked at the film, but I think he's got some leadership qualities, he's a big quarterback, he's got a strong arm and I think he's deserving of being in the NFL.  It would have been nice on his first start to give him a win, but we've got something to work on for him. 

 

Is there a way to explain how one week you score 31 points, next week you score seven and against the Bengals you get shut out?

 

I think – I don't know what word I'm looking for – I don't know if it's a sign of maturity or what it is, but we've got to figure it out soon because I know for a lot of guys in this room that winning one game doesn't sit well winning one game at a time. 

 

How much harder does that make it when there is such an imbalance with only 18 yards rushing in the game?  Puts a lot of pressure on the quarterback.

 

You guys are answering your own question.  There's nothing I can say.  We've got to run the ball, we've got to catch the ball.  That's offense. 

 

Was Anderson accurate for the most part?

 

I think he played pretty well.

 

It seemed like a lot of guys had trouble catching the ball tonight.  Was that a function of a new quarterback?

 

That's not my job….  It's not a new quarterback.  The conditions weren't prime, but that's not the excuse.  We did some things that hurt us and that ultimately that was our demise.